News

How Long is iPhone X Plus Battery Life?

Posted
Sep 01, 2018
by Bryan Liu

Rumor has it that Apple has its sights set on securing displays and parts for next fall’s lineup of devices while the iPhone X was just recently released into the hands of consumers, fueling speculation about 2018’s iPhone models.

It is predicted that the 6.5-inch OLED iPhone X Plus would come with a battery capacity between 3,300 and 3,400 mAh while the 5.8-inch OLED iPhone would have a battery similar to the current iPhone X — with a capacity between 2,700 to 2,800 mAh.

Now we know about its battery capacity, how about its battery lifespan?

Actually one of the biggest knocks on the iPhone has been its battery. It’s not removable, which means it will eventually run out of juice and need to be replaced just like an iPod’s battery.

A true statement, as far as it goes. Batteries die. But many media reports this week have gone further. According to some report, it states that “Apple is estimating one battery will last for 400 charges — probably about two years’ worth of use.”

Two years of use, the review says, and your iPhone dies. Or disappears in a puff of smoke, like those old tape recordings on “Mission Impossible.” Sounds pretty awful, right?

However such statement is completely wrong. Apple estimates that the iPhone will lose 20 percent of its capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles.

“Sadly, there are some inaccurate reports out there,” Apple marketing vice president Greg Joswiak stated today during a brief phone call from New York City. Joswiak isn’t quite sure where the story went off the rails. Somehow, though, things got lost in translation. And follow-on reports started claiming that 300 to 400 charges would be the end of the line.

“After 400 complete cycles, the iPhone’s battery still has 80 percent of its charged capacity,” Joswiak said. “And by a complete charge cycle, I mean completely draining the battery, a full chemical cycle.” In other words, using a little battery and then putting your iPhone back in its dock doesn’t count as a charge cycle. If you use a quarter of your iPhone’s battery and then re-charge it, Joswiak said, that’s the equivalent of a quarter of a charge cycle.

Apple’s iPhone battery page explains the rated life and lifespan of an iPhone battery. Apple also suggests that “for proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, be sure to go through at least one full charge cycle per month.”

So let’s put this in perspective: if you completely drained your iPhone’s battery every day — which would be a whole lot of use, since Apple estimates the iPhone can offer up to 8 hours of talk time per charge — in about 13 months your battery would only hold 80 percent of its current charge.

In addition to this, following are some other useful tips about how to extend battery life. For example, store it half-charged when you store it long term. If you want to store your device long term, two key factors will affect the overall health of your battery: the environmental temperature and the percentage of charge on the battery when it’s powered down for storage.

Therefore, we recommend the following: Do not fully charge or fully discharge your device’s battery — charge it to around 50%. If you store a device when its battery is fully discharged, the battery could fall into a deep discharge state, which renders it incapable of holding a charge. Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life. And then power down the device to avoid additional battery use.

If all else fails and battery life continues to be a problem, consider an external battery pack, or carry around a power bank with you. Some external batteries will extend the battery life of your iPhone two-fold, if not longer.